been in production for years prior and received some modern updates to their styles. images, especially of the fruit themselves, were bigger, bolder, brighter, and more eye-catching, with a touch extra humor. Much of it sug- gested a post-art Deco influence. a bear happily leaves a now-

foodless nature site to the befuddlement of a camper in the “Visitor” lemon brand. an ostrich with his head buried “out-o-Site” in the sand was that citrus company’s name of choice. in “Legal tender,” a fat stack of money replaces any sight of fruit on the crate label, perhaps an indicator to the gross revenue earned from a supply of sold-out lemons. By the mid 1950s, however, the avocado took hold as the real cham- pion in Carpinteria farming, and whatever citruses were still grown— lemons remained in Carpinteria until 1978 when a fire destroyed the pack- ing house—were shoved in flimsy, disposable cardboard boxes, fanciful crate labels replaced with a rubber stamp imprint. after the halt in production, crate

labels have since become the rare collectible item among the enthusi- ast, and some, according to collectors Campos and Moore, are valued into the thousands. Both men are part of the Citrus

Label Society, a congregation of label collectors who assemble quarterly in locations across Southern California. the group’s Web site is citruslabelso- ciety.com. Looking at the hobby, Campos

says crate labels are a vivid reminder of the important role lemons and oranges played culturally, and still play, for people across the valley. “in all of the Mexican homes i go